The keyword selection process is one of the most important parts when it comes to creating your PPC ad’s, so you want to ensure that you get it right.

Selecting the correct keywords for your campaign is essential. It’s no use paying for under performing keywords that will just drain your account, with no ROI (return on investment).

So how do you know which keywords are classified as the “right keywords”?

1. Start with a List
Generate a list of keywords based on words defining your product, location, product/services etc. Carefully consider what terms users are likely to use in searching for your products/services. It is essential to use the keywords searchers use, rather than the ones you and your organization use to describe your product/service. So things that may seem obvious to you, are never searched for & vice versa.

2. Choose Specific but Not Popular Keywords
You’ll need to select keywords that are specific to your product or service offering, but you need to be careful not to select keywords that are extremely popular, as this may deplete your PPC funds sooner than expected. Certain phrases may cause your ad to appear constantly & therefore clicked on by people not really searching for your specific product. For example, I have recently run a campaign on car hire, airport parking, airport lounges & airport hotels for My Travel Extras. Although many people may search for these phrases, you have much more competition & therefore less chance of standing out from the crowd & getting a return from each click.

3. Use Phrases instead of single words.
You stand a better chance of winning the search engine wars as this helps to narrow down exactly what people are searching for. As mentioned above, rather than car hire as a search term, try using
“alicante car hire” or “car hire at gatwick”. These phrases will narrow down impressions to those people only searching for these products, who are more likely to buy as they are specifically looking for what you are offering, rather than paying for clicks for people looking for general car hire information.

4. Consider misspelled keywords
Everyone makes mistakes when they are typing, so who’s to say that your searchers don’t make this same mistake when typing in search queries – take advantage of this.

5. Constantly Change Your Keywords
Keywords should be evaluated frequently for performance. This can be done by reviewing your website statistics to see which terms are being effective in driving traffic to your website. Use Google Analytics for this as it’s free for anyone with a Google account & extremely comprehensive.

So don’t waste your hard earned money on keywords that just won’t give you customers. Take these tips into account when evaluating your keywords and see the increase in your ROI.

There are a number of tools available to help you research keywords: Google has its own Keyword Tool which also shows the volume of searches & number of competitors.

I also use Internet Business Promoter & Keyword Elite for generating keyword lists & also investigating the level of searches/competition for keyphrases.

Durrrr! Like me, have you been looking over your website and wondering what you need to do to increase your sales, leads or sign-ups?

In a new competition Google are offering you the “chance of a lifetime”. Imagine having the Google team give your website the once over, and undertake all the testing and tweaks to improve your site’s conversion!!!

For some lucky people it’s no longer a dream. The team at Google are running the “Website Workout” competition which will see a handful of business/website owners win the opportunity to have their websites optimised for more leads, sign-ups and/or sales.

According to the Google Website Workout page:

“Our consultants will work with you to discover ways in which we can increase site performance. Using Website Optimizer, our free website testing and optimization tool, a team of experts will work with you to determine the page layout, headlines, images, and text that will drive the most business from your site.”

To give your website the chance of winning an conversion overhaul by the team at Google, enter the Website Workout competition before June 17th 2008. You can submit your entry here.